Abundance of Roses
by Okinawa Chironex
Summary: In which Kanae screams at trees in an attempt to get through to her one true love: Tsukiyama Shuu
1. Chapter 1: Sanguine

_Chapter 1: Sanguine_

Leaves fell on an autumn scene, painting the garden amber. Kanae had been watching Shuu for a while now; the pale man had seated himself in the dining hall of the mansion and had been staring out of the closed windows for an hour now. She stood beneath the tall wooden beams that lined the hall, drumming her fingers against the wall mindlessly. Anxiety was building in the shorter figure as she couldn't fathom why one would want to spend their day looking across the familiar garden. Why wasn't Mairo cleaning up the mess the trees were making? Whole pathways throughout the garden were buried in the paper-like furls.

She was getting impatient - Kanae had to know what he was thinking. She made her way towards the mop of pastel blue hair and took a seat beside him, wondering if there was anything to be gained from chancing her eye level. Maybe she simply couldn't see what he was looking at from the distance of the doorframe looking in on the room.

Alas, nothing. They whole scene looked identical.

She felt his eyes turn on her and couldn't help revealing a flash of pink across flushed cheeks. This was just embarrassing; he didn't need to see that, that wasn't the point of positioning herself next to him. No great declaration of love, just curiosity. She turned away and intensely stared out the window, hoping he wouldn't comment on it.

The pair sat in silence for a short while, neither remarking on the other's presence. Kanae felt the words uncontrollably leave her mouth as her patience finally wore thin, "Master Shuu, why is it that you've been staring out this window all morning?"

The gourmet paused for a moment, as if composing his reply before he eventually gave away an answer. "Kanae, do you see that rose over there?"

The smaller girl leaned towards the window, noting a blooming rose poking out from the leaves; it was rather small and stood alone, isolated from the rose garden which resided further from the mansion. Its delicate purple petals looked fresh against the dry foliage. She nodded in confirmation of the sighting.

"Well….." another pause, "Kanae, don't you see….. It's drowning; it's up to its neck and drowning in red."

"Shuu…" Worry grew across the girl's face as she tried to understand the meaning of these words. Was he simply referring to the growing pile of maple leaves around the rose or did it mean something deeper, something more significant.

"Oh, and Kanae," he turned towards her, interrupting her thoughts; "I've asked Mairo and Matsumae not to clear the leaves up until they start to rot. I like the way they look on the lawn."

"Master Shuu, if you don't mind me saying, I can barely see the paving. What if you were to lose your footing for losing sight of a steady surface?"

"I doubt it will come to that." He turned back to the window as if to motion the end of the conversation. Kanae rose and walked to the doorframe, looking back over her shoulder and questioning what it all meant. Maybe Shuu had finally lost himself to depression, or maybe he was just trying to pick up a new hobby. The latter seemed unlikely. The only thing her master seemed to care about anymore was one Kaneki Ken and an encounter with botany wasn't going to change that. Kaneki seemed to be Shuu's entire world, nothing else would satisfy him, nothing else was enough. For a ghoul that was rumoured to want a taste of anything new, he certainly wasn't letting go of this image of the perfect meal.

A one-eyed ghoul. It was laughable that the man who could have anything would fall for this creature acting as a ghoul, a fake, an undesirable. Revolting. He would fall for this, yet never even cast an eye on those who held him closest. She couldn't deny being wrought with jealousy as her counterpart saw no one else except this unpredictable hybrid, but Kanae took this emotion down to the neglect she had felt as a child, feeling as though nobody truly saw her.

Why did she call him master? What did she owe him? Nothing. She owed everything to his father for taking her in, not to that pig. So what was this whole 'master' thing about… could it be that she secretly craved his attention? No. That couldn't be it…. Could it?

Dusk fell and Matsumae wheeled a large dish to the service lift. The heavy silverware platter contained what was most likely a workaholic or a lone bachelor – someone forgettable with no real ties. An easy kill. Of course Shuu wouldn't have any of it, this carcass would be wasted on him, and he probably wouldn't even try to eat it. Yet Matsumae routinely went hunting for him.

Kanae saw her dedication to him on a daily basis and wondered what had happened for such a stoic woman to give so much of her time to this wilting man. Once again, Kanae's face flushed pink as she felt another twang of jealousy – Shuu depended on this woman but would never allow himself to rely on Kanae. She buried this thought. Matsumae was good to any friend of the Tsukiyamas, and that included her.

Kanae hadn't spoken to Shuu since the conversation about the leaves and was in no mind to go and talk to him now, especially while he was confronted with food. Instead, the mauve-haired girl went back to the dining hall. The tall ceiling beams loomed over her as shadows filled the room. Amongst the darkness outside, she could still vaguely see the outline of that rose with only the petals protruding from the cluttered ground. She sighed and turned her gaze back to the service lift which was only just visible through that grand doorway. Matsumae had reappeared with the dish and trundled it towards Kanae.

"Maybe you would appreciate this more than the young master."

The room was devoid of sound. Kanae asked Matsumae to sit across the large rectangular table from her and the dish was placed between them. They sat in the dark as the shorter girl tried to find the words she wanted. Matsumae flashed cutlery, knowing to wait for the girl to compose herself. Mairo and Mirumo were nowhere to be seen and so Kanae remained, alone in the dark, aside from the silver-wielding servant.

The shoulders of the bound figure slumped, "Matsumae…." The faintest voice left her lips, "Why does Shuu like the maple leaves?"

"I wasn't aware he did." A quizzical look crossed the older woman's face, but she thought it best not to push the girl. Kanae seemed to have retreated into an introverted state, limbs curled inward as if to assume the foetal position while awkwardly balanced on a tall Mackintosh inspired chair. "You ought to eat something or you'll waste away. You're already starving yourself to keep a masculine figure."

Matsumae was more observant than she'd thought, or maybe the disguised gender of the girl was so obvious to everyone else but no one felt it polite to point out. Either way, Matsumae didn't normally speak like this; she was always direct and to the point. She must have sensed a disturbance within the Tsukiyama Manor.

Dark hair fell across dark eyes as the more feminine of the two lent over to cut into the body. Blood ran around the rim of the dish, coating the reflective surface in red. ' _Red_ ' thought Kanae ' _It's drowning in red'._

She shook her head violently, trying to get those words out of her mind, and turned back to the plate of cuttings Matsumae had promptly prepared. She'd never seen the servant eat before, so it was a first for her when they both sat quietly together chewing the tough flesh, hidden in the depths of the shadowed hall.

They finished the body between the two of them and the older woman took the dish to the kitchen after wishing Kanae a pleasant night's sleep. This encounter with the servant was unusually lengthy, so with her departure, Kanae was left wondering if Matsumae knew more than she was letting on…


	2. Chapter 2: Fulvous

_Chapter 2: Fulvous_

Kanae awoke from a light sleep; she'd forgotten to draw the velvet-clad curtains so bright beams of early sunshine fell on her through the eastern facing window. She woke up like this most mornings, a hazy state with a tinge of regret, understanding what she'd done the previous day, but not quite remembering how she'd gotten herself back to bed. She'd been dreaming although she couldn't quite grasp what the subject of this tale had been.

Today she had planned to find out more about the mysterious Kaneki Ken. So far she didn't have any leads and was hesitant to ask Chie about it. That little brat was another object between her and Tsukiyama; she couldn't be trusted and everything she did reeked of future blackmail. It's not like Kanae would dare to do anything to the girl because of friendship with Shuu, however that didn't stop her from loathing their every encounter.

The clock struck 6am as the mauve-haired girl dressed herself. At this point the servants would already have awoken and would have begun their tasks round the manor: dusting the old, unoccupied rooms, doing the laundry of the young master who barely changed out of his loose pyjamas and preparing meals that would never be consumed. An average day.

Kanae thought she'd set out early but as she passed Tsukiyama's room she felt the urge to see him. Slowly turning the ornamented handled, the door creaked open and her eyes fluttered round the wooden panels. He looked so peaceful; the man was sleeping soundly, his limbs splayed out across the king-sized bed with a docile expression marking his delicate features. She controlled her breathing, making no sound in an effort to leave the man undisturbed. The quiet site brought a smile to the girl's face, something she rarely donned. Maybe today was going to work out okay.

She closed the door, breaking her gaze, and eased the latch shut, avoiding any loud noises. She backed up and felt something behind her. Alarmed, she swiftly turned on the spot and looked up to see a familiar figure. Mairo looked down on her, brandishing a pile of towels.

"Excuse me master Kanae." He brushed past her and reached to open Shuu's door.

"Wait!" She interrupted his action, placing herself back between Mairo and the door. He looked at her in confusion; this was slightly out of character for the short girl. "Mairo, have you heard anything about Kaneki Ken while hunting?"

Relief passed over the servant's face, "No master, I have not. All I've heard is that he hasn't been seen in any of the wards for just over a year."

 _Great, that really makes things easier._ Kanae kept a level face and was about to let Mairo get back to his duties before remembering something else: "Mairo! One more thing," He nodded before she continued, "why does Shuu like maple?"

He stopped to think, recollecting memories from his time knowing the Tsukiyamas, nothing particular came to mind. "I don't know, he simply asked me not to clear them up."

She let out a sigh, another dead end. "Thankyou Mairo, that's all."

xXx

After picking up her mask and a coat, Kanae left the manor. On her exit, the girl stopped by a growing pile of leaves; lifting a tall boot, she struck the pile, kicking streaks of red, orange and brown in all directions. As she did this, a multitude of invertebrates scurried in all directions, a dull jumping spider leapt for the cover of the closest fold of foliage while a centipede charged toward her boot armed with chomping mandibles. It dug into her sole. She pulled her foot away in disgust and trampled the creature, collapsing its exoskeleton.

This Kaneki Ken wasn't one to hide from confrontation - Kanae knew that much - so why would he be hiding now? What could have triggered this to occur?

Kanae left the garden and walked down familiar streets, she still wasn't really sure what she was looking for, but she kept walking regardless. She ended up outside the CCG's 20th Ward's Branch Office. Admittedly, this wasn't the safest place to be, but it was always a good source of information in terms of ghoul sightings. She approached the notice boards lining the perimeter, noting the absence of people on the scene. Those boards were filled with words written by hateful humans, telling tales of unending malice; they showed no truth and failed to reflect the injustice of both species. It was hard to stomach the reality of the situations all over Tokyo; children were orphaned daily both ghoul and human all for the sake of 'justice'.

Kanae saw no useful information concerning the one eyed ghoul so continued walking along the roads of the 20th ward that she knew so well. Not one investigator could be seen around the site, this was unusual - there were always Doves lining the place, always on the lookout for some pitiable ghoul to trample. Taking note of their absence, Kanae moved on.

The girl boarded a train, riding it down to the 4th ward where she departed. This place didn't seem like a great place for a ghoul to roam, but if she held her posture and walked with purpose, hopefully no one would even question her being there. Winding down narrow streets she made her way to Hysy, the mask shop. Although she herself hadn't gotten her mask from there, she was well aware that the majority of ghouls in Tokyo relied on that little shop. She had a strong suspicion that she might pick up a lead here.

"Closed." Well, that was a dead end. The small sign on the door wouldn't stop Kanae from having a bit of a look around though. She peered in through the dusty shop window, masks hung on the ways. Judging from the style, Kanae was sure that Kaneki's mask must have come from this place. No one was inside. It was only 11 am, most shops would have opened by now, maybe the owner was away.

She sighed and made her way back to the train station, the whole area was rather quiet, but then the 4th ward was controlled by the CCG who enforced strict rules here to calm the chaos. She took note of slim man she passed, he was riddled with piercings and wore sunglasses over his partially shaved head; his appearance was too unusual in this setting to be ignored.

She took the train back to the 20th ward, positive the day was unsuccessful. The ward smelled relatively clean although there was a definite hint of something… but what was it? What was that scent mixed in with the concrete?

Kanae suddenly stopped, realising just what it was: _Ghoul blood._

xXx

The streets of the 20th ward were teaming as people packed out of their offices for lunch. With the greatest population of any city in the world, this was average for Tokyo. Crowds pushed alongside each other, eager to reach their destinations, and among them walked two men dressed in white, long coats trailing behind them as they walked briskly towards the Branch Office. Their mission was complete and now they could return to the shelter of the office to clean their red-stained quinques and escape the rush of people.

They were quite easy to see, a contrast to the dark cloth of suits and business jackets. If this was the CCG's idea of blending in, they needed a new design team. Kanae spotted them with ease. _This must be the cause of that smell._ These men disgusted her; they probably enjoyed killing whichever ghoul they were after this time.

She made the decision to follow them. She hadn't uncovered any information today and she still had the afternoon in which to do nothing, plus these investigators seemed more concerned with getting back to the base than hunting for ghouls. She'd be safe as long as she stayed hidden in groups of people, and she knew where they were going so it wouldn't matter to her if she lost sight of them.

One of the investigators wore orange hair which had short tufts sticking out of the top while the other had cropped fluffy hair that seemed to fade from black at the roots to a pure white at the ends. Kanae could see neither of the men's faces, but this didn't matter, she was sure they'd both be looking rather smug after killing the ghoul.

The stench of RC cells grew stronger as she got closer to them, she could be sure they had killed a natural ghoul rather than an artificial even with her inferior nasal capabilities. She couldn't however tell what species the investigators were, from the rumours she'd heard about the new Quinx project, she couldn't be sure that they were both human – although that didn't really matter, however she looked at it, they were the enemy.

The men turned a corner; they were right by the CCG branch office now. _Investigating Investigators,_ Kanae mused, the thought causing her to internally snigger. As they got closer to the building, the girl knew she would have to stop following them soon, it was a pointless task anyway – she wasn't going to learn anything new from these brutal killers.

"Shirazu, well done with your kagune today!" The monochrome man turned to orange-top, his voice was filled with a happy tone. Disgusting. _Wait…. Kagune?_ This must be one of said Quinx. Kanae was in potential danger if these doves found her following them.

"Yeah, thanks for covering me, I'm still having a hard time getting it out. Maybe I should stick to using my quinque for the moment…"

"No! You're doing really well! You just need more practice at it."

Well this conversation didn't seem at all useful other than confirming the existence of CCG Quinx. Kanae's impatient nature was starting to show. The investigators were stood still outside the branch office entrance while she had placed herself around the corner of the neighbouring building. _I'll keep listening until they go inside_.

"Yeah, I guess I have improved since first getting the surgery! Thanks Sas-san!"

The white haired dove turned to face the taller investigator, a smile stretched from ear to ear. "I'm really proud of you, of the whole squad actually!"

Kanae froze, hoping he wouldn't see her staring round the corner, but more than that she stopped still upon seeing the white-haired investigator's face. His features looked so familiar, but why would she possibly recognise a dove? How did she know those features so well?

The investigators entered the office after conversing for another few minutes, but Kanae hadn't even noticed; she was still frantically trying to work out who the man was. She just couldn't work it out.

The girl started on her way back to the mansion, taking short strides as she sifted through her memories, remembering all the faces she could. Droplets of rain started to fall but Kanae didn't bother to put on the waterproof coat she'd grabbed, she was too occupied by her thoughts. She had gotten to the large garden outside the manor but barely noticed her whereabouts until she felt her feet sink into the ground. The piles of autumn leaves were saturated with rain so compressed easily under her weight; her boots gained a brown coating of emaciated flora. These leaves were going to start rotting soon, and when they did they'd leave a truly unpleasant smell.

She was nearly at the door when it finally struck her. She pulled out a photograph from her pocket, some old picture that Shuu seemed to treasure that she'd taken a copy in his sleep. She looked down on it and it confirmed all her suspicions. The small dark haired boy smiling up from the photo, the white haired dove she'd seen earlier, it was obvious now: this 'Sas-san' was, in reality, the one and only Kaneki Ken.


	3. Chapter 3: Jonquil

_Chapter 3: Jonquil_

The shocking revelation that Kanae finally knew the whereabouts of Kaneki Ken hit her and she didn't quite know what to do. She couldn't tell Shuu, giving him hope like that while she still had no clue how to deal with said Ken would be a recipe for disaster. Kanae dropped his bag in the hallway upon entering back into the Tsukiyama household; she slumped on a sofa in the large lounge and tried to collect her thoughts.

Thinking of Shuu, the blue-haired man was nowhere to be seen; it wasn't that unusual for the taller man to spend all day in his room. Now that he ate next to nothing, the once-gourmet had little energy to spend ambling around. He hadn't a job, or any work to do about the house; since finishing up at university he'd left the house less and less until it was rare to even see him stray into the garden. He was rather sickly in appearance by this stage, but every member of the household still thought of him fondly and treated him no differently because of it.

Kanae wondered whether Chie already knew about the Sas-san situation – perhaps she was finally one step ahead of the 'little mouse'. If she'd finally succeeded in knowing more information than that rat, maybe it would be better to tell Shuu straight away such that she was not beaten to it. If not, Chie might try to extract information from him in an exchange for the Kaneki update. She wouldn't have that happen; Shuu didn't need pestering by Chie. No. If she told him, his condition might just get worse. No, instead she would just have to make sure Chie didn't find out, and if she did already know, she'd have to try and come to some sort of agreement with her.

This wasn't getting her anywhere; Kanae left the comfort of the sofa to once again check on Shuu. She climbed the stairs, those wooden steps that took up more room than most Tokyo apartments, and ascended to the room where she believed Shuu would still be sleeping. She would admit that the number of times she felt the need to check on the man was not appropriate for the relationship they had, but paranoia grew within her just as depression grew within him. As time went by, the atmosphere of the Tsukiyama manor darkened – Mirumo left the house daily, acting as a human and making excuses for the absence of his son while the servants continued their duties, but for Kanae and Shuu, each day faded into the next in an unending misery.

Kanae knocked quietly at the oak frame of the shut-in's room – no reply. Perhaps he was sleeping. She pried open the heavy door and was unsettled to see an empty bed. There was no way that Shuu would dare go outside the manor in his current state, so where was he?

xXx

Matsumae was cleaning out the freezer. It was getting close to midday and Kanae hadn't returned yet. She understood the reason for her frequent outings, but wasn't quite so sure about the motivation. After hunting, the household rarely had use for the industrial-sized walk-in freezer, preferring to eat their catch fresh, however in the days of the ghoul restaurant, Shuu had often taken home 'delicacies' that he had wanted to save for later.

Armed with a mop, water and bleach, the stoic woman began sweeping at the deep red stains across the floor. She had cleaned up messes much worse than this, so the freezer posed no threat to her cleaning abilities - the trick was to use cold water which lifted off the blood with ease before sanitising the area.

After this freezer, Matsumae planned to check the small freezer in the kitchen – this contained human food for the unlikely scenario that a human needed feeding - as such, no one payed much attention to this unit so foods often past its use-by date without anyone noticing. For now, the self-assured woman poured bleach across the freezer floor, eradicating any leftover bacteria or blood cells.

She wiped away the last of the red and as she did she heard a loud thump from upstairs. Without thinking the servant rushed to scene where she quickly found Shuu draped across the floor of his room. The carpet and bed were drenched in a salty solution as tears left the man's eyes. He had obviously fallen out of the four-poster, leaving Matsumae surprised that such a frail body could make such a noisy impact with the ground. His limbs splayed out resembling a starfish as he provided his own saline conditions.

"Don't get Kanae."

"Master Kanae is still out." Why did the man not want to see Kanae?

Matsumae pulled Shuu to his feet and relocated him onto the bed; it's not that he looked miserable, the man just looked conflicted. As she lifted him, the servant noticed something clutched in his hand and a large embossed book on his side table. Now seated, Shuu seemed to relax a little – the tears ceased and his clenched hands loosened. A crumpled piece of paper fell from his hand and rolled across the floor, he watched it disappear under the small table but made no motion to recover it.

Looking closer, Matsumae noted the title of the large tome under the reading lamp. It contained accounts of the members of the Tsukiyama family – family trees and such. She had seen Mirumo scribbling in it the day Kanae had come to the house and hadn't seen it since, assuming that it was buried somewhere deep in the family library. If the scrunched piece of paper was torn out of the book, Matsumae was sure that Mirumo would not be happy about it.

The servant asked if the master needed anything more, he shook this off and so she left him teary-eyed in his bed.

After returning back to the freezer situation, Matsumae wondered what could have caused such a bad reaction; sure, the Tsukiyamas were cruel to their victims and many a family member had be lost to various ghoul exterminators, but they were just family records.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard the back door open. Kanae always used the front entrance and Mairo had already tended to the garden, Mirumo wouldn't be back until the evening, so that left only one suspect.

The dark haired woman rushed out into the garden, today was obviously going to be filled with watching the young master – her decision to leave him on his own probably wasn't the best. She found him kneeling in a stark flower patch; Mairo had been clearing away the rotting leaves earlier so the frail man was collecting damp earth on his night clothes. He was pooled over a deep lilac rose and was once again crying. His actions were becoming unpredictable – Matsumae would have to step in and keep a close eye on him from now on.

She approached him slowly, not wanting to startle the already emotional man. He made no move to shoo her away, in fact he barely seemed to notice her. She crouched down next to him and saw red. The man's hands were cut and bleeding, the rose stem too was covered in the scarlet liquid. She placed her hand on his shoulder in a fruitlessly comforting way. He was mumbling into his hands: "maybe I was just too much of a narcissist to notice…."

xXx

Kanae searched the manor frantically, checking upstairs first. There were many places one could hide in the old house; its creaking walls held all sorts of spaces from out of place airing cupboards to whole hidden rooms. She found nothing despite looking everywhere she knew about. Would the next step be to check the attic? Or maybe downstairs was a better call?

She ran down the staircase, calling out for Shuu, for Mairo, for anyone but was left unanswered. She fled into the dining hall and stopped dead still. The leaves, those leaves she had learned to loath over the past day were gone from the back garden – perhaps the rain was enough to boost their decay. Now the rose truly stood alone. More shock crossed the girl's face as she focussed in on the flower.

She burst out the door, not bothering with her shoes. Her white socks were instantly dirtied as she made a dash for the rose. He was right – Shuu was right - the rose was drowning in red and that crimson coating smelt just like him.

She looked around her, grasping for answers, for an explanation until her eyes met those of the collected, loyal servant stood watching out of the kitchen window. Matsumae looked so calm, why did she always seem calm?

Kanae headed for the white tiled room and was relieved to walk in and find Shuu sat at a counter, slumped over what looked like a meal. The dish was comprised of facial features, something Kanae had never enjoyed eating, she hated the way the eyes stared back, the way they burst in her mouth. He seemed to be picking at them, so regardless of the cuisine, she was glad he was eating something. Matsumae crossed the room and started cleaning the small untouched freezing unit as if nothing had happened. She pulled out old mouldy packaging and tossed it into a bin liner that appeared to be filled with small body parts. "Master Kanae, would you like any of the leftovers from the freezer too?"


End file.
